Christmas Morning (2011)

Sunday, 25 December 2011

 
Entrance (i) Hodie Christus natus est (chant)
(ii) O Come all ye faithful
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm All the ends of the earth (Alan Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts God rest ye merry Gentlemen
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion Love came down at Christmas (Christina Rossetti/Malcolm Archer)
Recessional Hark, the herald angels sing
 

Seven men of the choir made our usual merry noise in three and four part harmony. Malcolm Archer’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem, and Bernadette Farrell’s thoughtful Communion song, made for moments of tranquility among all the festive cheer.

A happy Christmas to everyone!

Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass (2011)

Saturday, 24 December 2011

 
Introit O Emmanuel (chant)
Opening Hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Reading Isaiah 11:1-10 (A shoot springs from the stock of
Jesse)
Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
Hymn It came upon the midnight clear
Reading Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)
Hymn In the bleak midwinter (Holst)
Reading John 1: 1-18 (In the Beginning was the Word)
Choir Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
Bishop’s entrance and procession to the crib Adeste Fideles
Gloria Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Reading Isaiah 9:2-7 (The people that walked in darkness)
Psalm Christmas Psalm (Bernadette Farrell)
Reading Titus 2:11-14 (God’s grace has been revealed)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Reading Luke 2:1-14 (The Nativity)
Preparation of the gifts What sweeter music (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Silent night
Postcommunion While shepherds watched their flocks
Recessional Hark the herald angels sing
 

A bigger congregation than usual joined us for Midnight Mass; perhaps it was the mild weather, or an end at last to the Chapel Street road works. Celebration Brass were there too, and Deacon Liam Bradley from the diocese of Menevia, nearly at the end of his year’s placement in Salford diocese, sang the Gospel beautifully. Our musical banquet had, as usual, something for everyone.

4th Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 18 December 2011

 
Entrance The Angel Gabriel
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 88 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Ave Maria (Franz Schubert, 1797-1828, arr. Richard Proulx)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Veni Immanuel (John Bell) & Ps 79(80)
Postcommunion Rorate Caeli (Francisco Guerrero, 1528-1599)
Recessional O come, O come Emmanuel
 

Ave Maria is today’s Offertory antiphon. We had rehearsed settings by Elgar and Rachmaninov, in anticipation of a celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception that wasn’t to be, but I’m glad we settled on Schubert for today’s Annunciation-themed celebration. Richard Proulx's arrangement gives the first stanza (so to speak) to a solo soprano, sung today with luminous serenity by Gwen Leech, with the second section set for four-part choir.

The name Emmanuel appears in today’s Communion antiphon, and we echoed it in our Communion processional song, and in our jubilant final hymn.

Celebration of Christmas in aid of Age Concern

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 
Cathedral Choir & Notability What sweeter music (John Rutter)
All O Come all ye Faithful
Notability Simeon’s Song (Robin Stevens)
Just another Star (Karl Jenkins and Carol Barratt, arr. Peter Gritton)
All O little town of Bethlehem
Jon Christos & Jenny WilliamsO Holy Night (Adolphe Adam)
Panis Angelicus (César Franck)
All Good King Wenceslas
Cathedral Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
All Once in Royal David’s City
Notability Sweet was the Song (Andrew Goff)
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (John Neal Koudelka)
Anthony Hunt (Organ) Prelude on ‘Forest Green’ (Philip Marshall)
Cathedral Choir O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Jon Christos & Jenny Williams In the Bleak Midwinter (Harold Darke) – with Notability & Cathedral Choir
Silent Night (Franz Grüber)
Singalong led by Jon & Jenny Winter Wonderland
The Christmas Song
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Anthony Hunt Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Herr (Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau)
 

Musically speaking, there was something for everyone: choirs, soloists Jon, Jenny and Anthony, and audience; plus readings and talks from local dignitaries, and a prayer and blessing led by Bishop Brain.

It was fun to join forces with the excellent Notability to sing Rutter’s What sweeter music: singing in the sumptuous acoustic of the Cathedral chancel, we took it slowly and left plenty of room at the pauses, all to let Robert Herrick’s words speak as beautifully as the music.

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 
Entrance Rejoice for ever (mcb)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm My Soul Rejoices (Owen Alstott)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts O Rex Gentium (chant) & Magnificat Octavi Toni (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion Rejoice in the Lord Alway (Henry Purcell, 1659-1695)
Recessional Lo, he comes with clouds desending
 

With the Magnificat taking the place of a Responsorial Psalm today, we took the opportunity to sing one of the great O Antiphons in its proper context, so to speak. The antiphons precede and follow the Magnificat at Vespers in the final week of Advent, so at the Preparation of the Gifts we sang Lassus’s simple setting of the canticle, alternating chant and polyphony, flanked by repetitions of the antiphon O Rex Gentium.

Taken together with pieces by Bernadette Farrell, John Bell and co., as well as the chant Mass setting and (a truncated version of) Purcell’s jubilant anthem, it made for a good mix of music.

2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 4 December 2011

 
Entrance Song of Consolation (Peter Jones)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 84 (Elsie Wright)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Conditor Alme Siderum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
Postcommunion Hierusalem Surge (Heinrich Isaac, c. 1450-1517)
Recessional Come, thou long-expected Jesus
 

Our trademark mix of music, from Peter Jones and Jacques Berthier to Victoria, still in his quatercentenary year, and Heinrich Isaac. Isaac was a new name for us, and it was illuminating to set his music side by side with that of Victoria from a hundred years later. Isaac’s setting of the communion antiphon felt plain and brightly lit, compared with the light-and-shade subtleties of Victoria’s polyphony, alternating with chant verses. But both, I thought, were beautiful and prayerful.

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Carol Service 2011

Saturday, 3 December 2011

 
Choir Gaudete (trad., arr. Craig Kingsbury)
All O Come, All Ye Faithful
Choir    Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
All O Little Town of Bethlehem
All Once in Royal David’s City
Choir The Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
All Silent Night
All While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
All National Anthem
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
 

Celebration Brass joined us for an early celebration of Christmas with the Army Cadets, their chaplains and sundry assembled dignitaries. The continuing road works in Chapel Street were evidently a more formidable obstacle than last year’s blizzards, so we started later than planned, once the last of the coaches had negotiated the queues and diversions.